Broken and Together

Christmas Special!

     The next portion of the story is going to take on a different setting and pacing (mainly a switch in games), so here's a nice buffer between the two chapters. A Christmas special! Enjoy! (And, yes, it's not Christmas when this is being posted, but it was the first time this was posted heh.)

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   "I'm going to catch Santa for sure this year!" Elizabeth giggled, bouncing up and down on the living room couch. "I'll stay up all night! This time, I will! You'll help too, right?"

    Evan sat on the floor in front of it, watching the Fredbear and Friends Christmas special. He briefly glanced at his younger sister. "Right, um...yeah, of course. Mikey says Santa isn't realy, but..." He trailed off, saying nothing more as Michael sulked into the room.

    "Ugh, seriously, Lizzy?" Michael crossed his arms over his chest. "If Father catches you jumping on the sofa like that, he'll kill me."

    She did not acknowledge this, giggling harder and pointing at him. "Mikey, you're covered in flour!"

    He tried to brush off his clothes which were, in fact, covered in flour. "Yeah, Dad wanted me to bake the cookies for some strange reason. No idea why, I'm terrible at it. Keep burning them."

    "We know," Evan said, sighing. "You've set off the smoke alarm so many times recently." His expression brightened as he snickered. "Actually, it's sorta funny."

    "Not my fault, dope." Michael went closer and gently smacked Evan upside the head. "And you freak out like an idiot every time. Just shut up and watch your dumb baby show."

    Evan flinched but said nothing.

    "Now, Lizzy, seriously—" Mike shot her a look as she increased her jumping speed— "quit hopping on the couch." She laughed as he turned his back to her, prepared to reenter the kitchen.

    "Piggyback ride!" She leapt off the couch. He instinctively stopped and tensed for impact. Sure enough, she hopped right onto his back, and he managed to tuck his arms in the crooks of her legs before she could fall off. With an irritated huff, he returned to the kitchen, with Elizabeth clinging to his back and giggling loudly in his ear, much to his dismay. Already, he could tell he was going to gain a headache soon, half from this, half from the constant stress of having to look after his obnoxious siblings 24/7. He muttered to himself angrily as he yanked open the oven. He never understood why William dumped so much responsibility on him.

    "Ooo!" Elizabeth exclaimed, watching Michael retrieve an oven mitt which he used to pull out the sheet of sugar cookies. "They smell really good! Can I have one?"

    "Not yet." Michael straightened. Juggling her and the cookies, he hastily moved the sheet over to the nearest counter. He adjusted his sister and eyed his creation. He had to say, they truly did smell delicious, and they didn't look burnt for once. Though he despised baking (had been struggling over it for the past week now), he felt rather proud seeing them turn out so well. He just hoped they tasted good.

    Snapping out of his thoughts, he gave a grunt of annoyance, for Elizabeth was leaning forward and reaching for the cookies eagerly. "Get closer, Mikey!" she said. "I want one!"

    "I said not yet!" He jerked back, stopping her. "They're not even frosted, dummy."

    "Hmph." Elizabeth once again wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm not a dummy."

    "Yeah, yeah." He crouched down and slowly released her. "I'm putting you down now." At first, she refused, but after a few moments of Michael repeatedly and angrily telling her to let go of him, she did. The moment he straightened, Evan hesitantly entered the kitchen.